Victor revolver cylinder adapter

ABSTRACT

A cap and ball revolver can become choresome when it is repeatedly loaded and shot in the original fashion. To accomplish ease of handling and use, a replacement cylinder is installed which allows the cap and ball revolver to fire the standard center-firing ammunition. The replacement cylinder is divided into two pieces - the back plate which houses the firing pin, and the main cylinder section.

Elted States atemt 1 Petrucci [451 Sept. 11, 11973 1 VICTOR REVOLVER CYLINDER ADAPTER [76] Inventor: Victor Petrucci, 894 Marsh St., San

Luis Obispo, Calif. 93401 [22] Filed: Dec. 3, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 176,184

[52] US. Cl. 42/59 {51] Int. Cl. F41c l/00 [58] Field of Search 42/59 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.150914 3/1939 Gaidos 42/59 2,238,587 4/1941 Gaidos 42/59 3,613,285 10/1971 Kennedy 42/59 Primary ExaminerBenjamin A. Borchelt Assistant Examiner-C. T. Jordan [57] ABSTRACT A cap and ball revolver can become choresome when it is repeatedly loaded and shot in the original fashion. To accomplish ease of handling and use, a replacement cylinder is installed which allows the cap and ball revolver to fire the standard center-firing ammunition. The replacement cylinder is divided into two pieces the back plate which houses the firing pin, and the main cylinder section.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures VICTOR REVOLVER CYLINDER ADAPTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to cap and ball revolvers. At the time the cap and ball revolver was invented, the cartridge-type bullet was not yet on the scene. Today some of these original cap and ball revolvers are still being fired, along with cap and ball replicas and cap and ball originals which are now being manufactured. To load this firearm requires skill, time and patience. And the user must depend on the availability of black powder. There is clearly the need for a convertible cap and ball revolver which is able to fire the standard center-fire ammunition that is available today and the old cap and ball of yesterday.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is a cylinder that replaces the original cylinder in a cap and ball revolver, and allows the firearm to use the standard center-firing ammunition of the same caliber as the revolver was originally designed. No part of the cap and ball weapon need be modified beside the replacement of the original cylinder. The invented cylinder is of two-piece construction as opposed to the standard one-piece construction of cylinders. The two pieces are defined as (a) the back plate and (b) the main cylinder section. Because of the uniqueness of each make of cap and ball revolvers, the exact design (dimensions, cylinder cartridge arrangements, ratchet, etc.) of the cylinder assembly must on all exterior surfaces be the duplicate of those on the original cylinder. The back plate serves two functions: (a)to restrict the recoil of the cartridge in the main cylinder section upon firing; (b) to contain the firing pin (as cap and ball firearms do not contain firing pins). The main cylinder section will be designed to meet the requirements of the center-fire ammunition and the specific firearm. The main cylinder section will be identical to the original cylinder in size and shape except for the fact that the main cylinder section of this invention will have to be shorter than the original cylinder due to the back plate which also must fit into the frame cavity.

It is accordingly the primary object of this invention to provide a convertible feature to cap and ball firearms so that they may use conventional center-fire ammunition beside the original cap and ball ammunition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a cap and ball revolver incorporating the revolver cylinder adapter.

FIG. 2 is a view of the back plate that faces the hammer.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the back plate showing a cross-section view of the firing pin assembly.

FIG. 4 is a view of the back plate that faces the main cylinder section.

FIG. 5 is a view of main cylinder that faces back plate. 7

FIG. 6 is a side view of the main cylinder section.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a cap and ball cylinder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a cap and ball revolver with the invented cylinder embodied in the firearm. The parts that are peculiar to a cap and ball firearm are the ram assembly (13 & 14), the cap and ball type hammer (16) which strikes the cap (11) illustrated in FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 1, 2, 3 and 4, various aspects of the invented cylinder can be noted, The back plate (4) will mate with the main cylinder section (5) containing the cartridges (17) by means of a threaded hub (7) through which the cylinder pin (18) is located. The cylinder pin (18) will also pass through the back plate (4) and the main cylinder section (5). To insure positive alignment between the two cylinder sections, a spring-loaded locking pin (8) located in the main cylinder section (5) will lock into the back plate (4) at the back plate notch (6) as they are rotated into proper alignment through the screw-action of the threaded hub (7).

The firing pin assembly is composed of four pieces: (a) friction cup (2), (b) firing pin spring (3), (c) firing pin (1), and ((1) back plate (4). There will be a firing pin assembly for each chamber in the cylinder. The back plate (4) is bored part way through so that bore will align with the main cylinder section chamber (19). Using the same center line as was used in the original bore through the back plate (4), a smaller hole is bored completely through the back plate (4) as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 & 4. Through this smaller hole the rear of the firing pin (1) will extend so that it may be struck by the hammer (16). The firing pin (1) will be shaped as a shaft with a disc at the mid-section so that the pin cannot travel out of the back of the firing pin cavity (20). The disc acting through the spring (3) will seat against the back of the cavity (20). The spring (3) will face against the opposite side of the disc. The firing pin (1) and the spring (3) will be sealed in the firing pin chamber (20) by a friction cup (2) which is forced into the bore of the back plate (4). The friction cup (2) will have a hole on the firing. pin chamber centerline through which the firing pin will strike the centerfire cartridge (17) upon contact by the hammer (16).

As stated before in the summary, the invented cylinder will have the same exterior characteristics as the original cylinder (12). The chamber arrangement in the cylinder, cylinder pin bore diameter ratchet (15), etc. will have to be identical to the original cylinder.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a cap and ball revolver having a hammer, a cylinder recess, and a cylinder rotatably mounted in the cylinder recess for receiving cap and ball ammunition, the improvement comprising a replacement cylinder for adapting the revolver to fire center-fire ammunition, the replacement cylinder comprising a main cylinder part having a plurality of chambers therein for receiving center-fire ammunition, and a back plate having a plurality of cavities therein for receiving a plurality of firing pin assemblies, each of said firing pin assemblies comprising a friction cup, a firing pin and a firing pin spring, the firing pin having a disc shaped flange thereon, the firing pin spring being disposed about said firing pin between said flange and an apertured front wall of said friction cup, and the firing pin being biased rearwardly and projecting through an aperture in the rear of each cavity for cooperating with the hammer for firing said center-fire ammunition I I t 

1. In a cap and ball revolver having a hammer, a cylinder recess, and a cylinder rotatably mounted in the cylinder recess for receiving cap and ball ammunition, the improvement comprising a replacement cylinder for adapting the revolver to fire centerfire ammunition, the replacement cylinder comprising a main cylinder part having a plurality of chambers therein for receiving center-fire ammunition, and a back plate having a plurality of cavities therein for receiving a plurality of firing pin assemblies, each of said firing pin assemblies comprising a friction cup, a firing pin and a firing pin spring, the firing pin having a disc shaped flange thereon, the firing pin spring being disposed about said firing pin between said flange and an apertured front wall of said friction cup, and the firing pin being biased rearwardly and projecting through an aperture in the rear of each cavity for cooperating with the hammer for firing said center-fire ammunition when struck by said hammer. 